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2025 Spartan
Seattle Pan American
Championship
Race Review
By OCR Kings Reporter At Large
David Best
Seattle........The Emerald City.........Home to the Space Needle, Pike Place Market and the 2025 Spartan Pan American Championship Race Weekend. It was held on September 13 - 14 2025 at the Meadow Wood Equestrian Center in Monroe, Washington. The weekend included the Pan American Beast Championship as well as a Super and Sprint race. There was also a Teddy Bear Crawl that raises money to provide teddy bears to children in hospitals for comfort and companionship.
Venue & Logistics
As I was traveling from Charleston, West Virginia after participating in the Trifecta World Championship, I had to fly from Charleston to Charlotte, NC and then catch a flight from there to Seattle. My flight home was from Seattle to Orlando, Florida. I used Alaska Airlines for the trip home and, in my opinion, they are the best airline I have used to date.
Monroe is just north of Seattle and about an hour from the area attractions Seattle is known for. Pike Place Market, where the first Starbucks was opened, as well as the Space Needle and the Seattle – Tacoma International Airport. As in any metropolitan area, the traffic can be heavy, so leave yourself additional time to navigate to your preferred destination. Monroe isn't a large town, so hotel and dining options are limited. I opted to stay in Everett, Washington. Everett is about a half hour drive and a fairly easy one to and from the venue area. Everett has more options for dining and hotels, so that seemed to be the better option for me.
Course Conditions, Obstacle Layout &
Deciphering The “Spartan Code”
If you do enough Spartan Races, you will find that Spartan speaks in code. For example, when you see them say “Flat & Fast” when advertising an event, that doesn't mean it's an easy one...... and this venue is a prime example of that. While it is flat, what they don't tell you is that part of the course is near a river that has many smooth oval shaped stones the size of a large grapefruit. Trying to navigate them was an adventure as the footing is uneven and very trying on the ankles. More then a few racers had ankle and foot injuries on that part of the course. But the one positive was watching the Salmon swimming in the river and as a native Floridian, I have never seen that in person before then. The course itself is a mixed bag of terrain including mud, stones, water crossings as well as a large meadow with both grass and hard pan earth. The Beast race itself started with 4 Foot Overwalls, Hurdles, Monkey Bars, 6 Foot Wall, Atlas Carry and on to Inverted Wall. Then come the Super/Beast obstacles of Stairway To Sparta, Irish Tables, A Log Carry, Over Unders & Beater. Then Plate Drag, 7 Foot Wall, and the dreaded Olympus. Olympus has always been an iffy obstacle for me as it is a very taxing one on the body. Today, the Spartan Gods blessed me and I was able to complete it and once I do that, I know a clean race is within my grasp. Then on to bender, 8 Foot Wall, Twister and a combined Sand Bag Carry/Barbed Wire Crawl. They used this same combination in West Virginia the week prior and I think it's growing on me. On to Tyrolean Traverse, Rolling Mud, DunkWall, Slip Wall, Sand Bag Carry#2, Barbed Wire Crawl #2, Vertical Cargo, Bucket Carry and Armer. Then Multi-Rig, Herc Hoist, Helix, Z Wall and Spear Throw. At this point, I'm running a clean race and when they place the Spear Throw near the end of a race, that usually isn't good. The Spear Throw requires just the right amount of both strength and finesse and when you're tired, both of those things in unison are hard to come by. So I approached the fencing and retrieved my spear, took a deep breath and let it fly..........I hit the target on the low right side and knew at that moment, I just ran a clean Pan American Beast Championship race!!!! A fellow Spartan at the Spear Throw congratulated me and my response was “If I have a heart attack between here and the finish line, please carry me across so I get credit!!!” LOL!!!!! The final two obstacles were Rope Climb and A-Frame Cargo. The one obstacle omitted from the race this year was Monkey In The Middle. It has been a staple at this venue for many years and when I finally get to experience this venue, they don't have it....well, maybe next year.
Angering The Spartan Gods,
Is The Quest for 13 Trifectas In Jeopardy
& My Final
Thoughts
As I was floating back to the Spartan Member Tent basking in the afterglow of my clean race, I still had a Sprint race scheduled later in the day and was preparing for that. I had decided to use the Sprint as a victory lap for a well run Beast race and that was when I must have angered the Spartan Gods. I began my Sprint with no issues, but about a third of the way in, I started to feel funny and not too long after that, I was sweating and the chills began. I walked the rest of the course, tried the Spear Throw & failed, then drove back to the hotel. I showered, got a bite to eat and went to bed, hoping for the best. Woke up the next morning coughing, with the sweating and chills even worse....and I had to fly back to Florida later today!!! I had to bail on the Super and drove back to the airport in Seattle for the long flight home. I wasn't the only person on that plane suffering with the same thing and that plane sounded like you were in an airborne TB ward. I make it back to Orlando and finally home where my wife was waiting with a COVID test. I took it and you guessed it.. I'M POSITIVE!!!!! I had a race scheduled that next weekend in Indiana at the Badlands Off Road Park. I ended up spending the next five days in bed battling COVID and had to bail on the Badlands race. I did end up recovering, but it took me two weeks before I could even think of running another Spartan Race. In missing both the Badlands Trifecta Weekend and the Idaho Beast, I now know I have a zero percentage of error. I have to make the rest of my scheduled races to make my goal of 13 Trifectas in a season. Will I do it, can I do it, will the Spartan Gods allow me to do it.......stay tuned to find out sports fans!!!! Even with that happening to me, I wholeheartedly recommend this race as the Seattle area has a multitude of things to offer. The food, tourist attractions, National Parks and Vancouver, British Columbia is but a ferry ride away from the Seattle area. For me, one of the funny things about Seattle was driving in the car and picking up the Vancouver radio stations and hearing how they talk about us and the good old USA. As far as the race and venue, there isn't too much they have to do as it was a very enjoyable race weekend other then bring back Monkey In The Middle!!!! This venue also has won my coolest venue medal of the year award for the Pan American Beast medal. It will be interesting how Spartan handles the specialty medals for next year with the changes they have implemented. So, until my next report from the lone star state and Dallas, Texas, this is your OCR Kings reporter at large, David Best, bringing you all the “BEST” Spartan offers us!!!!!!!
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